


8th space

by rougesimp



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Daydreaming, Existential Crisis, Feelings Realization, Light Angst, M/M, Metaphors, Some Plot, Suicide Attempt, indirect pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25130437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rougesimp/pseuds/rougesimp
Summary: When you are faster than the speed of sound, Time does not sit around. Time runs with you faster than it does for other people, and for some people, this could be a potential blessing. You know people who would like Time to be faster. But for you, it's nothing but one of the curses that come with this unique ability. Time, for you, does not stop to take a breath and let you have a moment for yourself. Or for your friends. Or for the certain ebony hedgehog that seems to loiter everywhere he goes.or, alternatively: Sonic disassociates with his world. Shadow brings him back.
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog
Comments: 2
Kudos: 63





	8th space

**Author's Note:**

> i am: a hobbyist writer  
> i also: only write sonic having an existential crisis
> 
> enjoy

Sonic rarely feels out of space. (Sure, he's been to space, though.)

When you are faster than the speed of sound, Time does not sit around. Time runs with you faster than it does for other people, and for some people, this could be a potential blessing. You know people who would like Time to be faster. But for you, it's nothing but one of the curses that come with this unique ability. Time, for you, does not stop to take a breath and let you have a moment for yourself. Or for your friends. Or for the certain ebony hedgehog that seems to loiter everywhere you go.

Sonic rarely feels out of space. It is only recently that he feels out of space. He feels as if his limbs are wandering off on their own, unattached to his body and soul and feeling, and they are expanding and extending and progressing into things far from being limbs and it's the strangest feelings he's had. It gets stranger as he runs. It feels as if his brain is detaching from himself. He does not know what is going on, other than how he feels weightless and weak in a way that does not necessarily mean weak. It is complex to feel, and more complex to explain, and even more complex to understand. So Sonic keeps his minimal weight to himself. Shadow looks from afar.

He goes on to term this feeling as '8th Space.' He names it after a memory of a vague album cover and three AM thoughts, and the only way to counter 8th Space is to completely shut your mind off. When you shut your mind off to avoid the 8th Space, you shut off cognitive thinking. You shut off your ability to think at all. You lie down on the ground, and you stare off into the sky. Into Space. To avoid 8th Space, you will have to be one with the First. It is with this sort of logic that he runs.

* * *

Shadow encounters 8th Space when they've just got done with a warm up run together before the day's activities resume. He watches Sonic staring at a bush for over ten seconds, and it's almost funny to him until the blue hedgehog falls down on the ground, legs giving out. He lands on his back, and his closed eyes are an enough call of alarm for Shadow to sprint over and -

His hand comes up to grab his before Shadow can shake him. 

"It's okay," Sonic says. His eyes do not open.

"You're weak," Shadow says. Bluntly.

"I know," Sonic says. His eyes do not open. "It's 8th Space."

"8th Space?"

"8th Space."

Shadow does not reply, because to be honest he does not what to reply with. Unlike Sonic, he does not have any conceptual idea of 8th Space. Whether it's some sort of disease or whether it's just existential crisis. Shadow looks at Sonic lying down on the ground, limbs splayed out, eyes closed, and decides that it is a mix of both. 

He does not question further, either. He sits down next to Sonic's lying figure and closes his own eyes. 8th Space does not come for him.

* * *

It has been a week since Shadow has been introduced to the concept of 8th Space and to the ebony hedgehog it feels nothing more than a whole year. He comes out for his daily runs only to watch his rival pathetically lying down on the ground in his existential, delusional, personal reality, with no means to get out of it until his own body allows him to do so, and it slowly becomes something Shadow does not know whether to fear or accept.

It also seems like Shadow is the only one aware of the 8th Space phenomenon, as well. Sonic is quirky and active with the rest of his friends, but is weak and zoned out with him. Maria would've told him that this was the blue blur's way of opening up to him. But Maria is not here, and therefore Shadow does not realize this.

* * *

Shadow watches Sonic do something absolutely uncharacteristic of him approximately fifteen days after he as seen the 8th Space phenomenon and said nothing about it, and it becomes the last straw. 

* * *

Sonic coughs. Water flows out of his mouth like a leaking tap left behind, and Shadow's rough fist on his back only forces him to choke out more. He coughs again, bends down towards the ground clutching his stomach and groaning loudly, constantly. He does not remember wading in water. Shadow clearly does.

"You could've killed yourself," He's growling, over and over and over again, "You could've _died._ And what then?"

"I can't die," Sonic says, too confident for someone in his state. He coughs again.

"You're mortal, you piece of shit. You'll die if there's no air in your lungs."

Sonic has never heard Shadow swear to this extent a lot. It clearly means he's distressed, angry, and when Shadow is distressed and angry he forgets all there is to take care of a situation out of his personal jurisdiction. Sonic laughs. It clearly throws him off. Then he says, "I think I'll be safe as long as I'm around you." And he does not give Shadow nearly the time or space he needs to answer before he falls flat against his chest, eyes closed, breathing laboured.

* * *

Shadow does not say it to him, but he makes it well enough aware that he does not like 8th Space.

* * *

Sonic becomes distant after his outburst. HE does not know why. Everywhere he goes, the blue blue is fifteen steps ahead of him. Everytime he tries to talk, he is met with vague answers and vague-r smiles. Sonic is distant. And Shadow does not know how to overcome the growing distress in his chest.

* * *

The next time Shadow saves Sonic, the hero had had actively stopped breathing for a minute.

"It was an experiment," Sonic says. Because in the concept of 8th Space normally life-threatening circumstances can be discarded off as _experiments._ And Shadow does not, still, understand 8th Space.

The fuck is 8th Space? What does the number 8 do? If there's an 8th Space, where is the First? Is there a class difference with social mobility provided to only those that are on the same existentialism concerns as Sonic? Shadow's not philosophical. You cannot expect him to be socially mobile in a society he's never seen or experienced before. You cannot expect him to conquer something he is either in genuine fear of or knows nothing about. But he is Shadow The Hedgehog, and he has his resolve.

"You will not do that again," is what he replies with. It is said with a tone of finality and a tone of harsh anger, but it is a tone of finality moreso.

"You can't conquer 8th Space for me, Shadow." It is a simple answer - a simple, silent _request._

"Maybe I will," he growls. Because although he does not know this yet, he will.

* * *

Shadow conquers 8th Space on the evening of the next week, after he has witnessed Sonic dive head-first into the ocean. 

Pulling him out again is nothing new, now. HE sits him down on the beach next to him, the setting sun washing over them with her orange glow. It's a sharp contrast against Sonic's blue, and he looks...

Shadow looks at the ground between his knees. The new feeling in his chest is a sore.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"

Sonic, albeit tired and drenched, nods.

"Before this happened, what was going on?"

Sonic stays silent. Maybe this is how it looks to the ebony hedgehog sitting next to him. But he thinks. 8th Space is nothing more than a Dream-land. Nothing more than a refuge from his hard-knock life with its hard-knock days and its hard-knock catastrophes. He does not remember the last time he'd willingly fought with Eggman, Amy and Knuckles taking over this job as a result of his unplanned hiatus. He does not remember the last time he had laughed. He does not remember the last time he had felt his chest bloom.

Shadow does not say anything, as if he can hear his thoughts.

"I don't know what I was going through."

Shadow hums. And it's then that he makes a rash decision.

"You know you can confide in me instead of distancing yourself."

In light, it does not look like a rash decision moreso that it looks like a reasonable reply. But Sonic visibly flinches, clutching his arms and looking away. He looks guilty in a way that he should not. It irks the ebony hedgehog to no extent. He reaches out, as if to grab Sonic's arms, but retracts it the moment he moves to face him.

"I'm sorry for making you worry." Which is a big thing out of his mouth. It's only a few times where his pride allows him to apologise, and Shadow has never been apologized to a lot. He simply nods. "Its okay," he says, even if it's not. 

And this is how Shadow conquers 8th Space. With a simple apology, a simple desecration of pride, and Sonic is weakened to the extent where he cannot move any longer. Shadow carries him home and kisses him on the head, and he takes along with that kiss at least the 4th Space out of his conscience. Sonic does not realize this until it has been done, but does not mind it either.

* * *

Sonic conquers over his 8th Space - or, at least, what's left of it, the next day.

He does this by wandering over to a sleeping Shadow on the couch next to him and kissing him on his head - similar to last night - either go prove a point, owe no favours, or, simply....

Shadow wakes up slowly.

"No 8th Space?"

"None."

"Good for you. Still want to ta-?"

"No. This is enough." Because it is, for a fact, _enough._

_Obviously,_ 8th Space is still a dark remnant in his soul. And obviously, he can frankly not give a cheap fuck about it. Time is due when Time is due. It does not matter if it is fast or slow. It does not matter if you are fast or slow. Time runs by all. Time is equal.

**Author's Note:**

> again, didnt beta read, owe the mistakes to that if theres any


End file.
